Category Archives: The Cycle of Life

For the cycle of life day of the winter wonderland course one of the tasks was to recycle an old pair of Jens wellys as a plant pot, drilling holes in the base to allow the water to drain away, then hammering them to the side of the shed, where they look pretty funky!
After that it was burning some of the old Rubbish (bits of the fence) and weeds we didn’t want recycling
I love a good bonfire, especially on a cold clear winters day, warms the cockles of your heart!

Wellys are fabulous! nothing better for keeping out the soggy squelchness of the day, due to their insulating properties i always imagine they might be some help if struck by lightning?
they don’t seem to keep the cold out very well, so a coupla pairs of thick socks!

One of the most evocative sites of a summer festival are all the wellies piled up outside a tent, be warned decorate your boots in some way so that they are unmistakeable, last year i painted a pink om on mine in my daughters nail varnish, sadly this chipped off after the first sploosh through a puddle, inevitably my boots disappeared? were mistookenly borrowed? or somehow vanished? hmmm. and i spent the next 2 days firstly in a pair of boots 3 sizes too small and then in the mud with no boots at all. grim. trench foot

Wellington is of course named for the Napoleonic war general

Wellington has brighton links, theres a wellington monument in St Nicks, the oldest church in brighton just up dyke road, we have 5 Rhythm dances there every Wednesday, the most marvelous space in which to boogie!http://www.5rhythmsatstnicks.co.uk

You can go through a pair of Wellingtons a year spending lots of time outdoors and in the garden, and it can be hard to throw them out. Typically they have a minor leak or something like that so don’t work as water holding devices. There are lots of wonderful, creative things that you can use them for:
Flower pots, obviously they are a little on the tall side and unstable on their own, so tie or stick a pair together, then drill the sole with holes for drainage. Fill them half full with stones for more stability and drainage then plant with whatever you like… maybe herbs by the backdoor or sell them

Fill with cement and use as quirky picket fence posts, one welly at each end of a run of short fencing, you’d probably have to bolt the welly down to a post too

Tie them to the back of a ‘Just Married’ car along with those tin cans. It’s what I did when my mum got remarried – bought two pairs from a charity shop!

Welly hedge…. it could be a moveable hedge

You could fill a pair with sand and use as a doorstop

Have a welly throwing competition…!

Cut the rubber into strips to use for hinges on homemade doors

Paint them and nail them to a wall with a house name on

Cut off the foot and then cut down the middle to make rubber roof tiles for sheds
Cut the tops off and turn the soles into nifty sandals (possibly using the excess rubber as straps)

Please refer to previous handout for info on green manures.

You can recycle old newspapers and poster tubes (or similar) by using them to make paper pots. These are a fantastic and cheap way of growing plants from seed and the whole thing can be planted into the ground as the newspaper will rot into the soil and act as mulch around the seedling.

We will also be looking at creative uses for old tyres. You have to pay to dispose of old tyres so people are usually very happy to give them away to a good home! Below are some picture ideas for how to use them in your garden. Be aware though that you that chemicals can leach out of the tyres so it’s advisable to not grow edible plants in them just flowers!